


my crown (was) called content

by wheredwellthe_brave_atheart



Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 05:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3278531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheredwellthe_brave_atheart/pseuds/wheredwellthe_brave_atheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"By the time dusk had settled around the ship, the sail was slack and the oarsmen were assembled on the main deck, with calm seas reflecting the mood of the sailors aboard the Dawn Treader."</p>
            </blockquote>





	my crown (was) called content

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Chronicles of Narnia world, created by C.S.Lewis. I do not claim ownership over the word or any characters used. I am not profiting in any way from this work, it is my own invention and for entertainment only, and it is not purported to be a part of C.S. Lewis’s official story line.
> 
> Title adapted from Shakespeare's Henry VI. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

By the time dusk had settled around the ship, the sail was slack and the oarsmen were assembled on the main deck, with calm seas reflecting the mood of the sailors aboard the Dawn Treader. 

Eustace was sitting uncomfortably on a barrel of wine in the starboard corner, with that infernal mouse perching nearby. His contemplation of jumping overboard to swim to wherever the nearest British Embassy was on this god-forsaken ocean was interrupted by the sound of Lucy's laughter bursting out from the port side. 

"-and Tumnus hadn't realized it was actually honey mead, and so offered it to the Bears without thinking twice, and then, the next thing you know, they're all sleeping it off, and poor old Bolger is snoring on the floor of the Great Hall!"

The sailors around her laughed appreciatively at what Eustace could only assume passed as a humorous story here. 

A grinning Edmund slung his arms over the ship's railing as he added, "I seem to recall a certain lack of festivities in the Hall the next day, as no one really cared to be at the receiving end of a hungover Bear's annoyance."

This was met with more roars of laughter, and Eustace noticed Caspian was leaning back against the against the starboard side as well. 

"Queen Lucy, tell us a tale!" called one of the crew, a tall faun. "The winds are calm, we could do with a legend from your time."

This was met by clear approval from the rest of the crew, and so Lucy smiled humbly. 

"Oh, alright then," she replied. "What kind of story would you like?"

"The Battle of Beruna!" called one sailor. 

"Queen Susan the Gentle and Rabadash the Ass," cried another, which was quickly followed by many shouts of "the second Giant Wars!", "the sinking of the Hyperion!", or "the Marsh-Wiggle songs!" and so on. 

Lucy held up her hands to indicate a wish for quiet, and, smiling secretively, glanced at Edmund before saying, "I think I might have one in mind." 

Edmund had sat up in the half-light: Eustace could tell that he knew what story Lucy was referring to, and that he well enjoyed it. 

The sailors urged her to continue, so Lucy sat up straight and cleared her throat. 

"Once," she began, as stories so often do, "there was a world, so beautiful and full of bounty that all who lived there rejoiced to do so. Here the waters resembled nothing so much as great sheets of cut glass, and here the trees sighed and shivered in the night, and here was a sky so flush with blue it felt as though the colour would drip from the heavens, staining the earth. But to one, the sun appeared dark in her eyes, for she had lost a friend of great importance..." 

Eustace found the minutes ticking away as he became lost - totally unintentionally, of course - in his cousin's story. He gazed at the rest of the crew and noticed that they seemed positively enraptured by Lucy's tale. It wasn't just the words she spoke, but the way she spoke them: she wove the tale with her very breath. 

"...and together they lived on, with the all the strength and honour of the Lion, and the sun shone bright in her eyes." Lucy paused as her final words hung suspended in the air before them. She smiled slightly and a pink tinge crept over her cheeks as the sailors broke out into appreciative cheers and applause. 

Edmund nudged Lucy to her feet and gestured for her to take a bow; she did so with a sweeping curtsy and a nod to her gracious audience. Edmund caught her hand and, in the fashion of Old Narnian balls, kissed her knuckles almost offhandedly, grinning. 

"Lucy, that was marvelous!" Caspian called out from beside Eustace. "Wherever did you acquire the skill?"

Edmund laughed merrily and crossed his arms over his chest. "Lu took a fancy to our dear friend Lady Aravis Tarkheena's style of storytelling - they teach it in Tashbaan like an art form, you know."

"Or at least," Lucy sobered, "they did, once." She turned to face her brother. "Edmund-" A look of awful realization came over her. "Edmund, what do you suppose-?" 

"Caspian?" Edmund called, standing, his eyes glittering in the twilight. 

Caspian shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny, edging forward across the deck. "Our... contact, er, with Tashbaan, has been - well, negligible. And their political climate is not very stable at the moment. I'm reluctant to... to step in until I can be sure of their intentions." 

Lucy huffs derisively with a glance at her brother. "You can never be sure of another state's intentions, that's why you have spies." 

At Caspian's almost guilty silence, Edmund's eyes narrowed considerably. "Tell me you have a network in place, Caspian."

At this, Eustace could feel the tension sink in with the rest of the ship's occupants. Apparently their so-called Captain, Drinian, did, too, because he coughed and stood at attention. 

"All right, crew, back to your stations. We've got some light left before sundown, we can still make some headway tonight." 

This was met with hardly any grumblings from the crew - no doubt they felt it best to give their monarchs some privacy. Eustace, however, oscillated on his perch, as he happened to be extremely reluctant to return to his cramped quarters. Though he knew that mouse, Reepicheep, spotted him as he scurried off, Eustace remained seated, hoping to eavesdrop on his cousin's conversation. 

"...Because you've got to be careful!" Lucy was hissing at Caspian, as her brother stood stony-faced behind her. "You can't know how to proceed until you've assessed the situation properly-"

"Oh, and the only way to do that is to infiltrate their borders?" Caspian said loudly, holding his ground. "I'm not my uncle, I don't intend to sit on a throne of conspiracies-"

"No one's asking you to do that, Caspian," Edmund said placatingly, as Lucy whirled around and began pacing behind him. "But you do have to be aware of certain dangers present-"

Caspian threw up his hands. "It's different now, than it was during your time-"

"Exactly, Caspian," Edmund interrupted with carefully controlled calm. "We just - you have to understand, we lost everyone, everything we knew is gone now, and we want to make sure-"

"Make sure that I can be trusted not to muck up ruling this country?" Caspian objected. "Well, I'll have you know, since you lot left us, things have been just fine-"

"Oh, really?" Lucy said scathingly, pounding a track into the rolling deck with her pacing feet. "Everything's been peaceful and perfect, now, has it?"

"Lu-" Edmund tried to reprimand his sister, but Caspian spoke over him. 

"I'm not a child, I'm older than you were when you first took to the throne, and- and I'm older now than-"

"Don't!" Lucy snarled, suddenly feral as the jaguars Eustace had once seen in Harold's copies of The National Geographic. "Don't you dare-!"

But Caspian had turned quite red and looked as though he regretted his last words. Lucy fumed silently, and then, without a backward glance, stomped up the stairs to the upper decks. 

Eustace shrank into the shadows, desperate not to be noticed by the remaining pair. 'They are acting rather foolishly,' he thought, watching Caspian and Edmund. 'As Alberta would say,-'

But what exactly his mother might've said was forgotten, as Eustace watched Edmund sigh heavily, and, murmuring something to Caspian, follow in his upset sister's wake. 

Caspian ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan of frustration, kicking the sea chest closest to him with the toe of one boot. Eustace thought it looked as though he quite rued this course of action, as the young king cursed loudly and clutched at the offending foot. 

Taking advantage of Caspian's distraction, Eustace stole along his side of the ship and up the creaking stairs to pursue his cousins. After a few minutes' searching, he heard them before he caught sight of them - the clank of their swords announcing their current occupation. 

Eustace was thunderstruck to witness his relations engaged in swordplay such as this. The skirmish at the slave trader's hold had been too terrifying to take in the spectacle of his cousins wielding weapons with the confidence of old warriors. Now, he stood aside and gaped at the speed and grace with which they sparred. 

Lucy seemed to be venting her frustrations through the clash of her sword against her brother's: she let out occasional cries of pique when she was unable to land a solid hit. Edmund, for his part, had a furrowed brow and an intent expression, but appeared much calmer than his sister. He twirled his short sword and shifted his feet in preparation for Lucy's next strike, swinging smoothly to meet her attack head-on. 

"Go for the angles, Lu, remember?" he coached the Valiant Queen as he determinedly parried her blow. 

"Yes, yes," she snapped back, a little impatiently from Eustace's perspective, adjusting her grip on her weapon. 

Eustace crept closer, trying to gain a better vantage point, but managed only to upset a crate of oranges that were sent sprawling with the pitch and roll of the ship. 

His cousins halted their match and he felt the pressure of their gazes. 

"Oh," he called, desperate to mask his true intentions,"Er, I was just-"

"Spying," they said in unison, with impatience clear in their voices. 

"I thought you two were all for spies?" 

This slipped out without his full consent - Eustace did not care for the expressions on his cousin's faces. 

But Lucy laughed appreciatively. "He's got us there, Ed," she admitted, putting away her sword to collect the spilled fruit. 

Edmund tapped a toe on the deck repeatedly. "I suppose," he said, rather grudgingly. "D'you feel any better now, Lu?" he inquired of his sister as he, too, chased after the rolling oranges. 

"What - that fighting was supposed to be therapeutic?" Eustace spluttered. "But..."

Lucy grinned at him. "Of course," she replied, dumping an armful of fruit into the crate. 

"That was nothing," Edmund added, tossing her his pile one by one. "Should've seen us when we were older," he said, smirking. 

Lucy giggled at this as well, and Eustace was a little stunned to see how quickly they were able to let go of their earlier anger and act as ordinary adolescents again. Well, as ordinary as his cousins could ever appear to be. 

"Did you like the story, Eustace?" Lucy asked brightly, stretching out one of her wrists. 

Eustace frowned, more out of habit than of actual desire. "It was alright," he said, with a shrug. 

"Tomorrow you'll get a chance to get off this ship again," Edmund assured him. "Drinian says we've got another island in our sights."

"I hope we'll find something exciting," said Lucy, as she ran past Eustace to catch a better glimpse of the sun setting into the waves.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
